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Wings for Our Troops on “Being a Marine”

You might wonder how I would know what it’s like to be a Marine. Well, I don’t technically know what it is like to BE a Marine, but I know what it’s like to be adopted by one (or in our case, several). When they say Marines are a brotherhood, let me tell you, that is an actual understatement. Those boys/men are closer than most brothers and it is a lifetime commitment to say the very least.

It would be hard for someone not close to the situation to fully understand not only the closeness to each other, but the commitment to me and Tebo that they have. It’s as though they all made a commitment whether it be verbally or internally to Chad that after he passed away they would make sure we were ok. Let me tell you, they do that and more!

It’s the most amazing thing you could imagine. I could be having a rough week and never say a word outside my immediate family and without warning I will receive at least one (usually more than one) text message or phone call from one of them just checking in and making sure we were ok or just to tell me they love me. It’s the most amazing thing.

If I’m having a low day I can send them a text message and without fail they will respond. It might take them a few hours if they are working to respond, but they eventually always respond. They can never know how much that truly means to me when I get those small text messages saying “hey momma bear, love you”. These are Marines that send these to me!

Once a Marine always a Marine! Once a member of this elite group, you are always a member. I know this first hand. It’s been 2 years since we lost Chad and I can tell you that I don’t believe I have gone one full week without hearing from at least one of them in that full two years. They even called from Afghanistan before they came home from that deployment. They came to see us before going home to their own families. That doesn’t happen in all branches. I’ve spoken to other Gold Star moms whose kids were in other branches and most of them have never heard from one of the guys in their child’s unit. That breaks my heart that they will never know this kind of connection.

We are truly blessed with the guys Chad served with and they will forever be a part of our family. We miss them on a daily basis and I’ve been thinking a lot lately that we need to plan a little reunion of sorts so we can all be together again. That just might need to be our summer plan especially if we do get into a new house with a little more room. It would be the best house warming I could imagine.

If you ever get the chance to meet a Marine, you should sit down and really get to know them and listen to their stories of their brotherhood. I would bet all I have on the fact that every Marine will have the same stories and still think of all their brothers they served with. I know my Marines do! Love you guys, Semper Fi!